Saturday, November 26, 2005

Imperialism in Haiti: it's a gang problem

Hollywood Freedom:“in most of the conventional media, Haiti is viewed through a sociological prism in which the country’s problems are boiled down to a neat cycle of poverty, gang violence, crime and more poverty. Through this prism, the undeniably political murders of Lavalas supporters and other poor Haitians are recast easily by slick public information officers for the HNP, the international cabal, and the UN into legitimate responses to a growing “crime/gang problem.”This hoax allows the US, French, andCanadian footprints to fade from the canvas, and the UN troops seem less like occupiers and more like, well, peacekeepers. How can the situation in Haiti, in which the US, France and Canada spent millions of dollars to destabilize Aristide’s government and where the UN has marshaled as many as 300-400 troops at a time to commit deadly raids, be characterized simply as a police action to counter “criminal elements” in poor neighborhoods? The answer is that it can’t, because this scenario is a propaganda fabrication.”From “Haiti, Imperialism, and the Treachery of Liberals” by Shirley Pate http://www.haitiprogres.com/2005/sm051019/eng10-19.html

Previously seen on sanitized UN War Crimes:“In the early morning hours of July 6, more than 350 UN troops stormed the seaside shanty town of Cite Soleil in a military operation with the stated purpose of halting violence in Haiti. The successful goal of the mission was to assassinate a 31 year-old man and his lieutenants that Haiti’s right wing media and reactionary business community had labeled bandits and armed supporters of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.According to residents, Emmanuel “Dread” Wilmer and four others were felled in a hail of gunfire that came from all directions including a circling helicopter. According to the Associated Press, a military spokesman for the UN peacekeeping [sic] mission in Haiti, Colonel Eloufi Boulbars stated, “Armed bandits who had tried to resist were either killed or wounded.”On July 6 in Cite Soleil, a weeping Fredi Romelus, recounted how UN troops lobbed a red smoke grenade into his house and then opened fire killing his wife and two children. “They surrounded our house this morning and I ran thinking my wife and the children were behind me. They couldn’t get out and the blan [UN] fired into the house.”http://www.world-crisis.com/news/1152_0_1_0_C/(warning: graphic pictures)

If you missed the first airing, there will be repeats playing continuously:“17 November - In the slum of Cité Soleil, UN troops regained control of a neighborhood Thursday after a night of clashes with armed gang members who authorities say are supporters of Aristide. "Both sides exchanged thousands of bullets," said Lt. Col. Andre Novaes, the UN commanding officer in the zone. "We fought from sunset till dawn."”http://haitisupport.gn.apc.org/fea_news_index.html

The original gangsters: Paul Martin, Jacques Chirac and George W. Bush.